Pace Digital TV Adapter

[kevenh]

http://www.pacefreetoview.co.uk/02b.asp

Oh no! It comes with a factory fitted scart lead.
I route all my video souces via the AV amp so need an S-video connector not a *beep* scart lead.
Anyway, at the link above, you can download the user guide of the Pace Digital TV Adapter if you like.

 

[Matt F]

Yep - very limited connectivity - it hasn't even got audio out RCAs - the only thing going for it IMO is it's size - it's tiny.

I'm presently trying to figure out which is the best free-to-view box - I've seen a few reviews but there are new ones such as the Panasonic that are due out very soon.

The Nokia Mediamaster is said to have better picture quality than the little Pace unit (according to What TV & Video) and it has digital audio out (which appeals) but apparently its operating system is very slow which I know would annoy me big time.

The Grundig boxes are supposed to be pretty good - I've seen reviews on both the square and the angled version in this month's Home Ent and HCC magazines.

I'd like to know how good the Panasonic is before making a decision although I understand it only has one SCART which is a bit of a pain.

There is a list of the various free-to-view boxes here:

http://www.freetoview.co.uk/s_stbo.html#

Matt.

 

[kevenh]

Handy link Matt (I'd been there already, but nice to have here).

Only the Pace box is s-video, PAL & RGB out. iirc
The rest just PAL & RGB out.
Don't think (m)any of them have two scart o/p's either.

 

[MartinImber]

Nokia Mediamaster is quite poor - Pace DTVA is better - I have both

Prefer IDTV over both!

 

[Matt F]

Originally posted by MartinImber
Nokia Mediamaster is quite poor - Pace DTVA is better - I have both

Prefer IDTV over both!

That's interesting Martin as What TV & Video definitely said the Nokia's picture quality was better than the Pace DTVA - I won't argue with you though as you're the one with both boxes - maybe you should sell me the mediamaster (obviously not for very much money as, like you say, it's quite poor ).

On the IDTV side - how do you record digital broadcasts on to your VCR - presumably you don't have to leave the TV switched on! Can the TV's digital tuner just be activated on its own?

Actually, thinking about taping digital broadcasts, isn't it about time we started seeing VCRs (and DVD recorders) with digital tuners built into them?

One final point - I'm currently with Telewest and I am trying to reduce my current £49.50 monthly TV & phone line bill. I can reduce it to the minimum £15 (including £10 phone line rental) so for only £5 per month I can get all the free-to-view channels via their box and still have access to all the radio stations as well i.e. for the price of a decent free-to-view box I can get around 2 years viewing of those channels (plus the extra Radio) from Telewest. I can't help thinking this is the best option, especially while free-to-view digital TV is still developing - hell, I won't even have to worry whether my TV ariel is up to scratch!

Matt.

 

[kevenh]

On the Philips 32DW9625 iDTV, you can record digital tv on a vcr with the tv in standby - assuming you've used the tv's timer to setup what you want recording!

When the timed event starts it goes into a not standby/not fully on mode for the duration. You can tell it's doing something because the standby light is yellow not red.

You could watch an analogue broadcast whilst all this is going on.

(Just downloaded the user manual as I was intrigued...)

 

[MartinImber]

I used record off tv once - does work!

The Nokia Mediamaster is connected to a vcr - that is what it was used for ever since the CAM worked.

However the Pace takes bad signals better - but I have not tried them head to head.

Pace DTTX is very fast

 

my analogue signal for channel 4 is a bit dodgy I might get one of these to benefit the new TV.

My analogue tv aerial goes into the back of the video at the mo, would the digi box scart go into the back of the video as well or the tv?

 

[MartinImber]

DTVA - TV


Others

Between VCR and TV

VCR-scart-DTTV-scart-TV

Aerial goes DTTV-VCR-TV

Mine goes

VCR-DTTV-VCR-TV

Aerial goes

TV-DTTV-VCR-VCR

 

[RichardH]

Anyone tried the Pioneer DBR-T210GBS? - it's in the latest Makro mailer, at £58 inc VAT. Can't find any detail on the Pioneer website. Only detail in Makro catalogue is that it supports 16:9 and 4:3, and has RF loop and 2 scarts.

 

[LV426]

Yes, I have one (not bought from Makro). AFAIK, it is the ex-ITV box. It works perfectly well, good picture & sound, receives all currently available channels.

Some people have expressed doubts about its ongoing ability to perform certain non-critical interactive tasks in the future because there are supposed not to be any software updates planned. But as a basic DTV receiver it is fine.

2 scarts plus 2xRCA for audio. RGB or composite from Scart 1. No SVideo as far as I can tell.

Onboard recording timer.

Reasonably fast software (slightly faster than Pace 735 I think and definitely better than Nokia).

 

[jim.rae]

Pace DTT FTA box is miles ahead of the Nokia, despite the limited connection facility.

My PACE is connected by a splitter which gives RF to the aerial input of my kitchen TV as well as a digital SCART, which gives also widescreen and stereo sound.

The Nokia connected to a separate tv, is slow, clunky, freezes constantly, and can't do teletext or ceefax.

No contest!